Roller-towel cabinet.



P. 0. HENDRIGK.

ROLLER TOWEL CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 1911.

1,050,539. Patented. Jan. 14,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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' v APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 1911.

15@5(),539, Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' WITNESSES: [NI/EDITOR 17580020 QHe/ndradc ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT onnion FOSCOLO 0. HENDRIQK, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF WILLIAM CHILDS, JR., OF BERNARDSVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

ONE-HALF T0 ROLLER-TOWEL cnnmnr.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14,1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FosooLo O. HEN- nnron, a citizen of the resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State ofNew Jersey,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Towel Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in towel holders and more particularly to that class of towel holders embodying a supplyroller carrying a roll of toweling from" which a clean supply of toweling may be drawn as required, and a take-up roller operative to take up the soiled towelinfi at substantially the same ratio as that at w ich the clean toweling is drawn from the supply roller; both of said rollers being mounted in a suitable holder orcabinet and the towel between them hanging from theholder or cabinet in the form of aloop of any desired length.

The object of my invention is to improve towel holders of the type referred to by rendering their operation more efi'ic-ient and their use more sanitary than heretofore. 1

To this end the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth in detail and pointed out in the claims.

' Referring now to the accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification; Figure 1 is a towel cabinet embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken transversely through the center of the same, on the line 22 of Fig. 4; Fig. 3 is a similar section taken adjacent. one end of the- United States, and

perspective view of a roller.

cabinet, such". as indicated. generally by c,

.whichis adapted tobe located in any convenient panama-roe use.

Su1tably secured-within this cabinet is a rectangular frame 'or casting 2, the opposite vertical sides of which are provided with a series of journal-boxes, indicated at 3, 4. 5 and 6, in which a series of rollers.;.to be presently described are journaled at their opposite ends. ers, indicated at 7, is adapted to carry a roll of toweling, such as T, from which the towehng is drawn as required for use, the same being-passed around the nextlower roller, indicated at 8, and-from thence is led upward'through an opening in the front wall of the to a convenient position for use at the exterior side of the cabinet as shown. A pair of rollers, indicated at 10 and 11, operate to engage therebetween the soiled end of the toweling, which is led to'them through an opening in the front wall of the cabinet as shown, and take up the same at substan tially the same rate as that at which the clean toweling is drawn from thelsupply roller" 7, whereby a substantially constant length of toweling in loop form is, maintained for use at the front or exterior side of the cabinet. Such operation of the takeup rollers 10 and 11 is efiected' by means of the roller 8 termed by me an operating roller, which is rotated by the frictional engagement therewith of the toweling as the latter is drawn from the supply roller and which imparts such rotative movement to The uppermost of these roll cabinet and over a guide roller 9 the take-up roller 10 through suitable motion-transmitting means, here shown as gearing 12. The rotative movement thus imparted to the take-up roller 10 causes it roller 11 to cooperate with the opposin and take up the soiled end of t e toweling by drawing it therebetween. When the soiled end of the .toweli-ng is thus taken up by thetake-up rollers it may be deposited in the cabinet in any'desired manner, that is,- after being drawn between the rollers I it gn' may be deposited loosely in the cabinet or it may be wound directlyupon one of the take-up rollers. The latter is the preferable way and the way shown in the present instance. When the toweling is wound upon one of the take-up rollers, one of the latter should be yieldingly supported relatively to the other in order to accommodate the increasing thickness of the toweling as it is wound on the roller. To provide for this the journal-boxes 6 in which the lowerroller 11 is journaled are slidably mounted in the frame tor vertical movement and are acted upon by springs, as at13, 13, to yieldingly'hold the roller 11 in operatlve relation to the roller 10.

In order to assure a more positive cooperation between the toweling and the rollers 8 and 10, wherebyundue slippage between them will be avoided, said rollers will preferably be provided with a roughened surface, which may be provided by covering them with sand-paper. Also, in some instances, I may employ a pressure roller, such as indicated at 14 in Fig. 5, for holding the toweling againstthe operating roller 8 to assure a more positive engagement between the same.

A spring brake, in the form of a bar 15 carried by spring arms 16, bears against the roll of toweling on the supply roller and operates to prevent the same from unwinding faster than it is drawn oil toruse, and also operates to cause the toweling to be drawn from the roll under sufiicient tension to assure its proper cooperation with the Operating roller 8.

To prevent re-use of the soiled toweling during normal operation of the device, l

have provided means for preventing the withdrawal or unwinding of the toweling from the take-up roller. This means may be any-suitable for the purpose, the same as here shown being in the form of a clamping device comprising two cooperative clamping members 17 and 18, between which the toweling passes, the member 17 being suitably supported in a stationary position, and the member 18 being pivoted to said stationary member, as at 19, and being operative to swing forward from clamping position relatively to the member 17' under the pulling action of the toweling when the latter is bein moved in a direction to be wound upon t e take-up roller, and to swing backward to clamping position relatively to the member 17 under the pulling action oi the toweling upon any reverse movement or the latter; the said member 18 when in clamping position operating to clamp and lock the toweling against reverse or unwinding movement. When the toweling is'thus locked as stated, it is impossible to with-- draw, from the take-up roller 11, any portion of the towel which has been used and then wound. up. Except for the particular location of the check device or clamping mechanism consisting of members 17 and 18,

nominee however, a person by pulling bacl rwardly upon the exposed portion or the towel might stretch the web of-toweling upon the take-up roller and thus cause a more or less consider" able length of the same, according to the length taken up, to retrograde.

It will be noted that the arrangement of the several rollers is such that the clean and soiled portions of the toweling are separated from each other in order to render the use of the holder sanitary,'that is, the clean and soiled rolls are separated and away from contact with each other, and the arrangement of the guide-roller 9 with one side thereof projecting beyond the face side of the cabinet also serves to support the clean run of toweling forward of and away from contact with the rearwardly located soiled run, as shown. 7

As a means to prevent possibility of the edge of the toweling getting drawn between the intermeshin gears in the event of any undue lateral displacement of the toweling on the rollers, l have located guard-plates 20 in position opposite the intermeshing portions of the gears, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

What I claim is:

1. A towel holder, comprising a supply roller, a take-up roller, means adapted to be operated by the towel as it is drawn from the supply roller and impart movement to the take-up roller, and means automatically operative to engage the towel and prevent unwinding of the same from said take-up roller.

2. A towel holder, comprising a supply roller, a take-up roller, means adapted to be operated by the towel as it is drawn from the supply roller and impart movement to the take-up roller, and clamping means automatically operative to engage the towel and prevent unwinding of thesame from said take-up roller. 1

3. A towel holder, comprising a supply roller, a take-up roller, means adapted to be operated by the towel as it is drawn from the supply roller and impart movement to the take-up roller, and clamping means engaging the towel between the supply roller and the take-up roller and being operative to automatically release the towel and permit movement of the same when drawn up by the take-up roller and to automatically engage the towel and check movement of the same when drawn in a reverse direction.

4. A towel holder comprising a supply roller, a magazine, a web member partially wound upon said supply roller and partially housed within said magazine, said web member havingan exposed portion adapted for use as a towel and located between said supply roller and said magazine, means controlled by tension exerted by hand upon said exposed portion for drawing said exposed portion into said magazine, thus unwinding another portion from saidsupply roller, and New 'York, and State of New York, this .a one way check device engaging said web 22nd day of March, A. D. 1911. member directly at a point between said magazine and said exposed portion to pre- FOASOOLO HENDRIOK' 5 vent retrogression of said member from said Witnesses:

magazine. W. A. TOWNER, Jr.,

Signed at New York, in the county of K. M. CAssmY. 

